There's not much to recommend in Portishead, which stands on the spot of a 17th century village. It's got drab weather, shipping docks, and not much else except its proximity to Bristol, "the gateway for the Empire." For some, it's the mouth of hell. Where nothing ever changes, and people go, according to an expatriate, "just to die."
This is a city that time seems to have left behind, where people are cordial, down-to-earth, and a little shy. Just like Geoff. He and his mother moved here when he was thirteen, after his parents divorced. Mom never left. But Geoff moved fifteen miles to Bristol and picked up some work in "a dodgy rock band" playing drums on the weekends.
He got his first real job at sixteen as a tape operator at Coach House Studios where Portishead now record. This is the place where he was first asked to write some demos for Neneh Cherry's Homebrew album, and where he remixed singles by Depeche Mode, Primal Scream, Paul Weller, and Gabrielle.
